Warriors' Peters measures up to best players in conference
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| "He's very focused and dedicated. If I wrote his life story, the title would be: 'Desire.' "
Rich Miano |
Stripped of his football gear, at 5 feet 8 and 187 pounds, the University of Hawai'i defensive back can be described in a singles ad: Fun-loving local male, average build, enjoys dancing and working out.
Here in the Grove Hotel, site of the 2003 Western Athletic Football Media Preview, Peters resembles the guest who answered the wrong RSVP. This football expo is a showcase of the WAC's best products. But Peters, the Warriors' shortest starting defender and the smallest player at this event, might as well wear an "as is" label.
Dressed in shorts, slippers and a "Warriors" T-shirt, the 2002 all-WAC performer is unrecognized as a football standout while hotel guests flock to the more imposing players.
It is the same at the Boise Towne Square Mall, where the salesman at the Waikiki Crab Co. — motto: "Tell your friends you got crabs in Waikiki" — does not acknowledge Peters as a Hawai'i resident, much less a football player.
Even Rich Miano, who coaches the UH defensive backs, recalled: "The first time I saw him, I was kind of skeptical. He was a happy-go-lucky guy, a little crazy, but he didn't look like a football player. There was nothing special about his appearance. If anything, he looked a little short. I guess that's why they say, 'You can't judge a book by its cover.' "
Peters, a senior, said he enjoys his anonymity. "It's kind of cool," he said.
Not that Peters is easily distracted.
"He's very focused and dedicated," Miano said. "If I wrote his life story, the title would be: 'Desire.' "
Indeed, Peters spent most of this summer leading the Warriors' unsupervised workouts at the school's grass field. For agility drills, he set up traffic cones, sometimes navigating the course around soccer practices, then set the pace.
After the workouts, he headed for the hills or to the beach to run sprints. One of his drills was to try and run while teammates held on to a bungee cord harnessed to his waist.
"When you're small like me, you have to put in the extra work," Peters said. "You can't take anything for granted."
After each practice or workout, Peters scribbles notes in a binder, which is now as thick as the Kaua'i white pages.
"I jot down everything I do wrong," he said. "Coaches don't like it when you make the same mistake over and over. This is my way of reminding me not to do that."
For this three-day trip, Peters packed the binder. "I want to keep fresh," he said.
"That's why he's where he is today," Miano said. "He's always trying to learn and get better. The young players can learn a lot by watching Hyrum."
A study guide would be to trace Peters' biography. He relinquished a full scholarship from tiny Missouri Valley College because he missed Hawai'i. Peters worked at Sunset Foodland, a 45-minute bus ride from his sister's house in La'ie, to pay for his tuition during his freshman year at UH, in 2000.
Although he eventually received a football scholarship, Peters continued to work during the offseason. Peters, who is of Hawaiian and Tahitian ancestry, is a dancer for the "Magic of Polynesia" show in Waikiki.
"There's a lot of pressure," Peters said. "You're dancing for the people who are paying you, putting food on your table. But I feel grateful for the job. It's my culture. It's hard work, but I don't mind."
Peters said it's important to have balance in his life. Off the field, he is one of the most popular teammates, telling jokes and earning the nickname "Kava Man" for his concoction of kava-made juices. After one of his "Magic of Polynesia" performances, he was approached by UH coach June Jones, who begged for the secrets to the some of the tricks. Peters politely declined, proving he is all show, no tell.
"I said, 'Sorry, Coach, I can't give away any secrets,' " Peters recalled. "Even though he's rich, he can't buy the answers."
At the end of each day, Peters takes a knee.
"I can't go to bed unless I say my prayers," he said.
Raised in the Mormon Church and named after a personality in the Book of Mormon, Peters prays for his parents, who live in Utah, for the teammates he calls "my football boys," and for an older brother who died in a car accident 16 years ago.
Peters was 6 at the time of his brother's death, and his first memories of the tragedy were of "my mom crying all of the time. She was really depressed, every day and every night."
Peters wears No. 33, his brother's Pop Warner number, and when he turned 18, he tattooed his brother's name across his back.
"I didn't know him too well before he died," Peters said, but now "I think about him a lot."
That, perhaps, explains what drives Peters.
"Maybe it's because of my brother, but I always think about living my life to the fullest," he said. "I make sure every day I accomplish something. You only live once."
